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Northfield Mom Pleads Guilty In Toddler's Death

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (WCCO) – A 21-year-old Northfield woman pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in Dakota County Court Friday in connection with the death of her 17-month-old son back in June of 2009.

Melissa Louise Ohmann had been charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Nicholas Arthur Miller on June 23, 2009. Ohmann admitted that she failed to seek proper medical care for her son after he was hurt on June 19, 2009. Medical experts said that Miller's death could have been avoided if she had sought the right medical treatment.

Tyler Hokanson, her former husband and a stepfather to the child, was convicted of first and second-degree murder last November in connection with Miller's death. Hokanson was sentenced by a judge to life in prison for repeatedly shaking the 17-month-old boy and refusing to get him medical treatment.

Prosecutors said that Hokanson shook his stepson, causing bleeding in his brain, a broken back, blunt force trauma and other injuries. Miller died several days later at a relative's house in Pierce County, Wis.

Ohmann will be sentenced in Dakota County Court on June 12.

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